Tag: New York | Page 2 | Winston Wanders

The Very Best Airport Food I’ve Ever Eaten

Post author:Winston
Post published:12.05.2014
Post category:Guides
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It’s getting to be that time when we look back on the year in review and 2014 was a very big year of travel for me. Between working remotely in Silicon Valley while still officially living in NYC, moving from NYC to SF, and other miscellaneous leisure travel, I spent a lot of time in airports.

I know that airports get a bad rap when it comes to dining options and you know what, most of the time the food really does suck. But, every now and then I’ve been able to come across some truly excellent dishes. Beyond that, I’ve even managed to find a number of dishes served in airports that blew me away – the overacheivers – the kinds of things I would get even if I wasn’t stuck eating in an airport. Without further ado, read on below to see the best of the best to eat before you fly in the sky. (more…)

Get a Real, Delicious, Cheap Taste of Italy at Fiat Café in Nolita

Post author:Winston
Post published:12.02.2014
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:2 Comments

I told you guys I’d be back. I knew you couldn’t keep me away from New York for too long. And Thanksgiving was just the right occasion to come back East for a few days of powering through my old stomping ground. To be honest, this rampage sort of turned into a food and drink greatest hits extravaganza. You’ll see what I mean when I get around to publishing everything I ate…

Anyway, while in SF, one of the things I’ve been missing most from my time in NY is access to great, simple, Italian comfort food. I just haven’t been able to find a reliable red sauce joint out here yet. So, I made sure that one of my first stops in NY was at one of my old NYC favorites, Fiat Café in Nolita, for a cheap, filling, and reliably delicious meal.

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Sexy Portuguese Date Night Off The Beaten Path at Pão! in West SoHo

Post author:Winston
Post published:11.10.2014
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:1 Comment

Just because I moved away from NYC doesn’t mean I still don’t have a few more gems tucked away to tell you all about. One of my more frequented go-to date night spots from my New York days is a tiny Portuguese restaurant located on the western edge of SoHo serving homey, upscale, and unusual food in a cozy, window-lined space that faces out onto the quiet, infrequently trafficked streets. I think Pao! still remains off-the-radar for most people and prior to Union Bar & Kitchen opening, it really was the only viable date night option in the area.

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If You Want Great Food, Go to the Airport

Post author:Winston
Post published:10.24.2014
Post category:Reviews Special Events
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As a recent transplant from NYC to San Francisco with plenty of reasons to be back in NYC often, JetBlue‘s brand new Mint service definitely had my attention right out the gate. It’s a premium service flight offered only between New York JFK and San Francisco SFO or JFK and Los Angeles LAX. Considering that most of my family is still in the New York area (and I frequently need to fly between SFO and JFK), it feels almost as if this service was designed specifically for me.

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Exciting, Eclectic, Global Cuisine at Public Restaurant in Nolita

Post author:Winston
Post published:08.20.2014
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:1 Comment

After knocking out two date nights from our NYC Bucket List and before relocating to San Francisco, we had time for one final meal with my family the evening before our departure. Public Restaurant was chosen by my mom firstly for it’s super-convenient location in Nolita but mostly because, and I quote, “it sounds like it’s got your kind of food”. That could be taken any number of ways, but I’ll just assume it’s because the menu is loaded up with unusual sounding game meat and other interesting sounding ingredients together in strange combinations and preparations. Yes Mom, that does sound like my kind of place indeed.

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Goodbye NYC. Bucket List Part 2: Peter Luger’s Steakhouse

Post author:Winston
Post published:08.04.2014
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:5 Comments

I ate nothing but a salad on the day of this meal. A few days after our Bucket List Date Night at Beauty & Essex it was time for round two. This time, the destination was the much more dude-ly Peter Luger’s Steakhouse. I know you’re not gonna believe it, but somehow I had never gotten around to eating there before. In fact, I consider myself pretty inexperienced with steakhouses at all. I don’t even order steak very often when I’m out. I don’t really have a good reason for any of this except that going out for steak is prohibitively expensive so I don’t splurge on it much.

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Goodbye NYC. Bucket List Part 1: Beauty & Essex

Post author:Winston
Post published:07.30.2014
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:2 Comments

If you didn’t see it coming and haven’t heard the big news yet, Amy and I are relocating from NYC to San Francisco. So, there’s gonna be lots more West Coast eating and writing is on the horizon. But before making the move, we’ve had enough time for us each to pick one last date night spot to cross off of our NYC to-do lists. Amy’s pick was the ever-trendy Lower East Side cool-kid hot spot Beauty & Essex and mine was the shall-we-say more meat-centric Peter Luger’s Steakhouse which you can read about here.

Beauty & Essex is about as trendy as restaurants get in NYC. It’s actually as much a nightclub as it is a restaurant. It’s the kind of place you get decked out to go to drink fancy cocktails and nibble on small plates next to models and the who’s who of the NYC nightlife scene. You shouldn’t be surprised if you find yourself seated near to a celebrity or two — if you can get in. If you’re coming just for evening drinks, there’s likely to be a line wrapped around the block. Amy knew this was where she wanted to go, so she booked a reservation well in advance, so we had no problem getting seated for dinner though getting inside the restaurant was a bit of an adventure in its own right.

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Sangria, Cured Meats, Other Spanish Imports at 100 Montaditos in Greenwich Village

Post author:Winston
Post published:07.16.2014
Post category:Reviews
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This story begins four years ago. Just after graduating from college I took a month-long backpacking trip around a number of European cities. One of the many stops was in Madrid and on that leg of the trip, my buddy Evan and I stopped for a budget-friendly tapas and beer-filled lunch at the now shuttered outdoor Plaza Santa Ana location of 100 Montaditos. Seeing as we were traveling on the cheap, their dollar beers and mini sandwiches known as montaditos were a perfect fit for us. And would you look at that, I even managed to scrounge up some old photos from that first trip.

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My Favorite Vegetarian Dish in NYC is at Taim in the West Village

Post author:Winston
Post published:07.11.2014
Post category:Reviews
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What can I say about Taim that hasn’t already been said. I think at this point everyone has heard of Taim and their ridiculously delicious Israeli style falafel, but there’s another dish they make that I constantly obsess over. In fact, the lesser known Sabich Sandwich is my favorite vegetarian dish in NYC.

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Eat Curry in a Velvet-Lined Subway Car at Ghandi Cafe in the West Village

Post author:Winston
Post published:07.09.2014
Post category:Reviews
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Have you ever wanted to eat Indian food in a velvet-walled subway car? No? The thought has never crossed your mind either? Well, I didn’t even know that was an possibility before I ate dinner at West Village’s Ghandi Cafe.

This narrow hole-in-the-wall is a really strange place. It’s situated right off the corner of Bleeker and 6th Avenue and it would be all to easy to walk right past its dingy facade. I wasn’t kidding about the velvet walls either. It really does look like a dressed-up subway car with a zany mish-mash of decor accents like tulip-shared sconces, English Premiere League flags, chandeliers, mirror-paneled walls, and Christmas lights.

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